1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle designed for filling cracks in roadways and other traffic-bearing surfaces, and in particular, to a crackfilling vehicle designed for filling multiple cracks in a localized area of several square feet, sometimes known as "alligator cracks" because of the irregular resemblance of the surface to the skin on the back of an alligator.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior crackfilling machines such as the ones disclosed in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,012 have been designed for applying crackfilling material conveniently in areas immediately adjacent the vehicle. Such vehicle can be conveniently moved in the direction of the crackfilling area. Hand wand operators walk ahead of the vehicle in the direction of movement. Such vehicles have also been designed with aggregate or sand hoppers and sand broadcasting or spreading devices to facilitate the spreading of an aggregate sand which combines with the crackfilling material to reduce set-up time and to allow rapid use of the roadway shortly after crackfilling repair has been completed.
One difficulty with the previous known vehicles is that if excess crackfilling material is sprayed, ridges or bumps resulted as the asphaltic crackfill material solidifies. Such bumps not only provide a potentially rough traffic surface but also the impact of wheels of vehicles upon the raised portions localize the forces on the roadway in a manner which accelerates subsequent deterioration of the repaired roadway surface. In the past, these raised portions were manually leveled using hand-held squeegees, which is a labor-intensive and slow operation.
Further, the invention of a cold-applied, crackfilling material, hand wand and method of application of the cold-filled crackfilled material which is the subject of a concurrently filed co-pending application by the present inventor, has given rise to a need for modified capabilities to the crackfilling vehicle.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved crackfilling vehicle having the capabilities of automatically squeegeeing applied crackfilled material.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a vehicle having versatile capabilities for applying hot crackfiller material, ductile emulsion crackfiller material, or cold-applied, quick-setting rubberized asphalt material.